By Stephanie Chao, The China Post
chinapost
April 30, 2015, 12:00 am TWN
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- May 1 marks a grand
day for the container shipping industry, as the transportation prices
for each 20-foot equivalent unit will go up from US$700 to US$1,300 in
the Asia-Europe shipping line, according to reports yesterday. Evergreen
Marine Corp. (長榮) and YangMing Marine Transport (陽明) are the major
benefactors in this wave of price increases.
The Asia-Europe shipping route prices slid in March, and once the
industry realized it was not performing well, companies cut down their
shipping schedules and increased the cargo capacity of each transport.
The industry saw the beginnings of a positive shift for two weeks in
April. The next recent two weeks will bring a continuous 10 percent
growth with Europe implementing quantitative easing and a recent rise in
consumer spending.
Businesses are confident that money will come
rolling in this year as long as the European shipping line prices rise,
along with a positive performance from the U.S and near-sea shipping
line.
On the other hand, even though oil prices are rising, it is
still only at US$314 per ton, a 25 percent slide from the previous
quarter, which benefits both Evergreen Marine and YangMing as long as
the prices do not rise past US$80.
EVA Airways
EVA
Airways' (長榮航空) board of directors announced yesterday that it will be
paying US$99 million to settle charges from the U.S. over alleged
violations of United States antitrust law.
The U.S government
had begun an investigation in 2006 on 28 airlines' fuel surcharges
between 2000 and 2006. Charges were brought to court in 2007 by the U.S
government, which then sued the 28 airlines.
The company had
already included US$80 million in last year's annual report, while the
remaining US$19 million will be listed in this year's first-quarter
reports, which totals around NT$580 million, with a NT$0.15 impact on
its earnings per share.
EVA Airways is positive about the
company's earnings this year as it had paid off the problematic lawsuit.
Even though the company's earnings were affected, it is still possible
for EVA Airways to see a surplus gain because of low oil prices in the
first quarter.
